At the moment, the way you farm depends on where you are in the country. Storm Ernesto brought about 20mm of rain with it, but it tracked north and avoided those parts of the country that needed rain the most.

It missed Limerick, Tipperary, Laois, Kilkenny and Carlow – there are soil moisture deficits of 50-70mm in these areas, so they are badly in need of more rain.

But there are soil moisture deficits of zero in the northwest, meaning land is already at field capacity – any more rain and damage will be done.

Therefore, grassland advice is dependent on what the situation is on your farm. Where growth is poor due to soil moisture deficits, then there is no option but to use supplement. Try and avoid eating into winter feed, if at all possible. Up to 9kg or maybe even 10kg of meal can be fed per cow. This should be broken down into meal fed in the parlour and straights or a blend of high-fibre feeds, such as palm kernel (where available), soya hulls or beet pulp nuts.

High costs

High levels of supplementation will reduce the grass demand and allow covers to build up to normal, but it comes at a huge cost. This level of feeding should only be countenanced after other steps have been taken. These include culling low yielders, empty cows and surplus stock.

The longer this drought goes on, the longer the effects will be. Most would have expected growth rates to have bounced by now. The longer it goes on for the more worried farmers are getting, as the costs of this drought are crippling and second and third cuts are struggling, meaning the winter feed deficits are going to be worse than expected.

But it’s a different story elsewhere. Farms that got rain are hovering between having just enough rain to drive on growth and ground is getting sticky. Average grass covers should be set at around 250kg/cow and surplus paddocks removed if above this.

Every farmer needs to monitor residuals. Granted, it’s harder to achieve a good cleanout when ground is sticky. Those on dry ground have no excuse. You cannot afford to waste feed this year. Tighter grazing means a slower round, which means a better chance of taking out surplus grass for bales. It also means better quality grass in the next and subsequent round.

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